Cross' Allen
by NekoNoKitiKiti
Summary: Allen had a terrible nightmare... Let's see how Cross Marian deals with it... Thus, Cross Marian has discovered he wants to be a parent...
1. Cross

Just a note: please read this with a... Clean, mind; It is not yaoi! Also, Allen is about 11, maybe 12, but I was going for 11. :3

* * *

The young boy stared into the darkness. What he was contemplating was crazy, but he had to...Who else could he go to? He made sure nothing was hiding in the dark as he slipped out of bed and rushed to the door, and out into the hall he went. Windows lit the corridor with moonlight, but Allen still thought the night scary...

He had had a nightmare. While he had nightmares often, they weren't this scary... This one had been terrible, and he just couldn't stay alone in the dark any longer... He wished it was Mana he was going to, but reality was far from that, and he quickly discarded the thought, as even though the trauma of killing his akuma-turned father was over a year ago in his memories, it still brought pain.

He walked hesitantly down the hall; while he had never went inside, he knew which door it was... As he approached the seemingly looming door, a chill went down his spine at what might happen should his master catch him... The risk was so high, Allen thought about going back to his room, but when he turned around, he thought one of the shadows had moved, and turned back around to open the door...

...Which Allen smiled at, as the door had miraculously made no sound; maybe he'd get away with it.

He slipped inside and shut the door with the same satisfaction, but once again had a chill; his master was intimidating, even in his sleep... As Allen adjusted to the darkness, feeling safer in the General's presence, he noticed his master sleeping on the left side of the bed, and decided to sleep on the farthest right side of the bed; he went up to the right side, and pulled down the cover just enough for him to slip underneath it.

He had laid there only a few moments, when he was blinded. After a few minutes, his eyes had adjusted to the now brightly lit environment, and he saw his master standing by the bedside, frantically putting on a pair of pants; he was turned away from Allen, so he couldn't tell if he was angry or not... And Allen blushed from embarrassment while his heartbeat sped; of course now, after he had climbed into the bed, did he remember his master slept naked to tan when he woke...

Allen was stirred from his thoughts as his master turned around,'ALLEN! YOU COULD HAVE WOKE ME UP! HONESTL-'

But, Cross Marian was cut short, as Allen began crying,'I-I'm sorry! I had a nightmare, and my room was dark, and I saw stuff moving in the shadows, and I couldn't stay alone any longer, and I don't know anyone else here except you, and...' At this point, Timcanpy, who had been snuggled between the two pillows at the head of the bed, crawled to Allen and nuzzled him, though Allen seemed to take no comfort, and kept crying.

As Cross was about to scold Allen, as he had subsided his crying slightly, he noticed something.

...Allen had a dirt smudge on his face. And Cross couldn't stand for his apprentice to be dirty. Especially when he was about to sleep in the same bed as him. Instead of scolding Allen for climbing into his bed, he changed the subject...

'YOU'RE FILTHY! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!' Allen opened his eyes (as he had closed them as he was crying) and looked at his master in confusion... While he knew his master didn't like filthy people, well, filthy men...How could he be angrier at some dirt than Allen having the audacity to sleep with him?

Cross turned away from his apprentice to keep from waking the whole house, when Allen heard him mutter something to him,'...if you take a bath.'

'W-what was that, Master?' Allen asked at hearing what he thought he had.

'YOU CAN STAY IF YOU TAKE A BATH!' Cross was furious now, and didn't care if Allen was frightened or if he woke everyone; before his little idiot apprentice could process what he had screamed, he grabbed him by his collar, and pulled him into the adjoining bathroom. He slammed the door and Allen flinched, still in his grasp. He let go and started drawing a bath; Allen backed into the corner and shivered as he thought of what his master might do... Surely his master wouldn't drown him...

* * *

After a few minutes of arguing, kicking and screaming on Allen's part, and tugging on Allen's clothes, Cross finally got Allen in the bath and washed him.

Cross' temper had subsided as quickly as it had come, and he stared down at Allen, who couldn't help but nod off, as he had tired himself from his efforts to protest. He dried Allen off, and redressed him... And, at this point, Allen had almost fallen completely asleep. Seeing the boy couldn't walk back himself, Cross picked Allen up*, and held him in the air in front of his face to see how asleep the boy was... and seeing Allen was enough asleep that if he did wake, he wouldn't understand what was happening, and fall right back asleep, Cross hugged his apprentice to him, with a smile he couldn't explain across his face.

He walked back into the bedroom, and pulled the covers down on the bed. He gently laid Allen in the middle of the bed, and the boy automatically curled into a ball; Cross slipped in beside him, and turned the lights off. As he settled in and laid on his side, he unconsciously put his arm around Allen, and pulled him closer; he noticed what he had done, but before he could pull away, Allen had brought Cross' hand to his face to nuzzle it, and had embraced his arm, before falling back to sleep. Sensing Allen had a smile on his face, once again Cross smiled an unexplained smile, pulled his little idiot apprentice closer, and fell asleep with the expression.

Timcanpy nuzzled back between the pillows, and watched the two sleep peacefully, while occupying himself otherwise by nibbling on a loose piece of Cross' hair.

So, the two slept, as Master and Idiot Apprentice, but also as Cross and His Allen.

Cross, the Father, and His Allen, the Son.

* * *

*Allen is very short in stature, even in the current manga, I believe (do correct me if I'm wrong! :3), so while Allen is 11/12 here, he is probably much smaller than he 'should' be, due to probable malnutrition being raised in the streets and the circus during most his childhood (once again, correct me if I'm wrong! :3). Him being smaller than usual makes me imagine Cross being able to pick him up and coddle him like a young(er) child. :3


	2. Cold

General Cross awoke as he did on any usual morning. He waited till the sun had been up for a few hours, then slipped out of bed and out behind the house he and his apprentice were staying in, and began lounging and sunbathing. He lit a cigarette as he sprawled on the chair, and smiled at the warm sun on his naked body as he settled himself. After sunbathing enough to keep his lovely tan on the front of his body, he rolled over and pulled his hair to the front to expose his back, and he noticed that Allen hadn't come out of the house.

Allen usually came out the back door of the house on his way to whatever he was going to do and said 'Good Morning, Master' to let the General know he was leaving, but he hadn't this morning. While Cross assumed Allen had forgotten, or he thought his Master didn't care... He began to worry slightly. Allen didn't break habits too much, and Cross had actually gotten up early, not late, so Allen shouldn't have been late to his daily event... By the time Cross had finished his morning tan and smoke, and had dressed, he was completely worried; Allen hadn't been through the kitchen, the hallway, the living room, or past Cross' room, nor had Cross heard the front or back door open as he got dressed.

He finally resolved to check that Allen was in his room. If he had a day off, he at least would have eaten breakfast...And probably a snack by this point, too, and as Cross walked to Allen's room, he became even more worried. What if Allen wasn't there? What if he was kidnapped by debt collectors?What if he ran away? He wasn't that bad of a master...Was he? As Cross thought about all this, he opened the door to find Allen snug in his bed, but the reason Allen had stayed not just home, but had stayed in bed as well, was evident.

Allen's eyes were closed, as if he were sleeping, which he probably was, Cross thought, but his cheeks, nose, and even a little of his forehead were blushing profusely; the covers were pulled up to just under his mouth, and Allen's expression didn't seem too happy. And his nose was running...Lovely. Cross wished he hadn't stumbled upon his apprentice being sick, and he thought about closing the door and going back to his everyday life...And the urge to forsake Allen while he was sick became stronger as he remembered the horror of taking care of Allen the first few weeks he had taken him in...

But, as no one else was in the house, and Cross wasn't so heartless as to possibly let his apprentice die, he decided to at least wait until Allen woke up. In perfect timing, Allen woke up as his master decided this.

'M-Master...What time is it?' Allen's voice was scratchy, and Cross once again wanted to flee... But, he stayed; his apprentice was helpless, after all...

'About eleven in the morning...' Cross pulled a chair to the bedside and sat.

'Uhh...I-I'm late...' Allen quickly pulled the cover over his mouth and sneezed; Cross flinched, then pushed Allen back as he tried to get up.

'You're too sick to go anywhere... Try to... Go back to sleep or something, I'll... Bring you some medicine...' With this, Cross got up and left.

While he walked toward the kitchen, he wondered what kind of medicine Allen needed... While he thought about slipping Allen some wine or light alcohol, he quickly changed his mind... His apprentice became nauseated when he so much as smelled alcohol... And while it WAS his fault, and he DID feel guilty, Cross hadn't apologized for...What he had done, to Allen after Allen had eaten his liquor filled chocolates...But, on the bright side, Allen had never forgotten after that to tell Cross they didn't have food in the house...

Cross reached the cabinet that held medicine, and began looking... Well, he found cough syrup, that would help Allen's throat...But, he realized, he didn't know what had made Allen sick... ...Was it a virus?... Or was Allen allergic to something?... Or was it just a cold?... Any way, the cough syrup would help somewhat... He hoped...

Cross took a spoon out of the silverware drawer, and started walking back to Allen's room.

* * *

When he was seated by the bedside, he opened the bottle of cough syrup and poured some on the spoon... He didn't fill the spoon, as he figured a little would be enough; it was pretty strong. Sweet little Allen was playing possum again, and Cross knew it, so he told Allen to open his mouth. When Allen pulled the covers over his mouth in protest, all patience was lost; Cross turned into the man that Allen knew all too well, and hated, and Cross forced the spoon into Allen's mouth. After a moment, his temper subsided, and after he made sure Allen had swallowed it, he took the spoon out of his mouth, and rather gently, for Cross Marian...

While Allen had been sleepy and lethargic the whole time, Cross noticed he was really beginning to nod off, instead of just play sleeping. He looked at the bottle of cough syrup...Yeah, it had a narcotic in it... Good, that was supposed to happen... Cross hesitantly placed his hand on Allen's head and gently patted him. Allen unknowingly smiled at the contact, the first since he had woke that morning.

Then...

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

...Of course. Allen hadn't eaten since the night before. Hmm. Should probably get on that feeding him four times a day, Cross. Parasitic Innocence have to eat, you know...

And so, Cross unwillingly went to the kitchen to find Allen some food. When he passed the clock, he noticed it was about twelve anyway, so he decided to make the two of them lunch. He looked almost everywhere in the kitchen to see what he wanted to eat... But, ended up just resolving that he didn't feel like making lunch. In the end, he made, yes, that's right, a pot of soup. A pot of chicken noodle soup, which he thought turned out well, despite that he didn't cook that much. He hoped Allen wouldn't have as massive an appetite as usual, since he wanted some too, and Allen would eat it all, the pig...

* * *

Since Cross had already eaten, he carried a bowl of soup into Allen's bedroom and sat it on the bedside table alongside the cough syrup and spoon, then sat himself down in the chair. Allen was snoring, which was good, in a way, Cross thought, the soup was still hot, so it had time to cool...Allen couldn't eat it laying down while it was so hot... Cross blanked when he realized what he sounded like...He... Sounded like a parent... He had to take care of his apprentice; no one else was gonna do it.

Once again he patted Allen on the head, but he cupped Allen's face in his hand afterwards, and he gently stroked his unhealthily red cheek with his thumb, and he remembered the night about a month ago, when Allen had slept with him over a nightmare... It had been warm, being innocently cuddled and nuzzled by his Idiot...He wanted it again, that feeling... But it felt weird to say it.

His thoughts stopped when Allen stirred, and Cross pulled his hand away quickly.

* * *

After a few days of being knocked out by the cough syrup and waking up to 'the devil himself' force feeding him, Allen was better. It had only been a cold. It had been weird waking up several times though... His whole bed had been warm on those several occasions, instead of just the part he was laying in being warm, and Allen had began to suspect his Master had been laying on the bed beside him while he was asleep...

* * *

While Allen had a blanket or two on his bed covering him while he was sick, Cross had thought it best to keep him as warm as possible, and thus had slept beside Allen at night. While Cross wasn't sure where it was coming from, he enjoyed acting...Parentally. He hoped that he could be like this more...But he still didn't want Allen to know about it. He'd have to wait until the next time Allen needed him...

But, that would come soon enough; at the moment, he was a little 'parented out', and wanted to catch up on all the drinks he had missed in the past few days...

* * *

Weeeeell, I said it was gonna be a one shot... But, at the time, I didn't know I'd put all the parental stories in the same universe, and, I figured if they're all in the same universe, why not put them as 'chapters' of the same story...

I don't know if I'll change the title of the entire thing... nor do I know if I can XD I'll probably leave the title of the entire and the first 'chapter' alone though...

Hope it's not weird for me to change my mind and decide to continue it instead of leaving it as a one shot... Sorry, my slight OCD forces me to lump them together...

Also, I hope I didn't go overboard with the parental feels; I enjoy Parental Cross/Allen, so sometimes my love for it just goes overboard, or at least I think... :3

Please review, I enjoy replying and reading them!~~~ :3


	3. Goodnight, My Idiot Demonslayer

Thank you to everyone who's favorited and followed, as well as everyone who's reviewed! :3

...I've noticed I had forgotten to put Tim in the last chapter... There's more of him in this chapter to make up for it :D

Also, this chapter is based off the song 'Goodnight Demonslayer' by Voltaire :3 While I wanted to make an amv for it, I never got to download the song, nor am I good at animation, so a story instead! :D Please, go listen to the song, it's good, in my opinion XD

* * *

Cross and Allen had moved again. This new town was odd, and many of the townsfolk had, jokingly, told young, little, gullible Allen the rumors of monsters that were extremely ugly, disgusting, and abhorring, which ate young children such as he, or stole them into the night to feed them to a newly hatched brood of monsters, or simply had the intent of scaring unsuspecting children. Allen was extremely worried by the end of their first day in this new town...And Cross couldn't decide how he felt about it. While he would be the person to comfort Allen about his fears, he would also be the one to be annoyed by it...

* * *

Bedtime came for Allen, and he was not happy about it. He refused to go into his room by himself, even just to turn on the lights. Cross had repeatedly, and patiently, at that, told Allen there were no monsters in his closet, under his new bed, waiting outside the window, or anywhere in the four room apartment they would be in for a few months. But Allen was not convinced; there was a monster somewhere, and he was not being eaten or scared tonight or any other night!

Cross picked up his Idiot, turned on the lights, and sat him on the bed. Allen quickly pulled his legs up onto the bed, hoping the monster under the bed hadn't decide it's meal yet... Timcanpy flew into the room and settled next to Allen, diving soon after under the covers, coaxing Allen to do the same, but to no avail.

'Oh, Tim... Are you going to sleep with Allen tonight?' Watching the golem wiggle deeper under the covers, Cross took the answer to his question to be a yes. He scratched the golem behind a wing with his right hand, and grabbed Allen back up with his left hand; he lifted the covers back and placed Allen down again beside Tim, covering them before Allen could squirm away.

Once again, Cross reassured Allen there was nothing to be afraid of, and once again Allen wouldn't take it. Allen reiterated the tales of the monsters residing in the closet, so Cross decided to take action; he walked to the closet and swung the door open, to which Allen flinched, but opened one eye to see nothing in the closet, as his Master had said. Somewhat reassured, Allen asked his Master to check under the bed, and in many other possible hiding spots. After the hiding places in the room had been checked, Allen asked Cross to check outside the window.

To Allen's surprise, his Master picked him up out of the bedsheets again, and placed him on his shoulders... Well, this is odd for Master, Allen thought. The piggybacked pair walked to the window, and to Allen's horror, one of his worst nightmares was flying in that ominous manner, The Millennium Earl. As Allen tightened his grip on his Master, said person turned his head to look up at his apprentice.

'I don't see anything, do you?'

Allen whimpered.

Cross sighed. 'Allen...There's a lot more to you than you think. Your arm... It can be used to destroy whatever you see right now. Whatever monster comes your way, an akuma... even the Earl, if you're careful...'

Allen looked up from having his face snuggled into the back of his Master's head, and saw the night sky, clear, dark blue, twinkling with stars, nothing out of the ordinary.

Allen yawned, and Cross once again put him to bed, going to the door when Allen began snoring.

'Goodnight, my little Idiot Apprentice.'

* * *

Short chapter, as always; sorry that updates aren't consistent. Schedules for after-school stuff will be in my way until after November... More like, until football season ends for high schools... Should write more after November, doubt homework will get in the way :3

Review if you wanna, I like reading and replying, as I've said before! XD


	4. Progress

Allen had always been jealous of other children. He would see them walking hand in hand with their parents, and it would sting that his parents hadn't wanted him. Then he would curse his useless, bloodred arm, and continue with his colorless day. That was before Mana came, though. While Allen's, or, Red's, first few meetings with Mana had been confusing, especially when a younger version of his current master had warned him about Mana and almost killed him in a rampage, Red had gotten close to Mana, and was adopted and renamed Allen by him.

Allen had a family. His days were no longer colorless and boring; he had a place, and he enjoyed being alive for once. He and Mana traveled, hand in hand, as Allen had always coveted. Mana would even carry Allen if he was tired.

But, then That Day came, and once again, Allen had no family...

* * *

Allen was walking behind his Master, as usual when General Cross went out for a walk. Allen once again felt the sting of jealousy as he watched a pack of children disperse at their mothers' calls for lunch. Cross noticed the slight pad of his apprentice had stopped; he paused his walk and turned his head enough to see his apprentice while Timcanpy fluttered over to said apprentice.

'Are you coming? You're so slow as it is...'

Allen realized he had stopped, and ran to catch up; the two continued in their walk until they reached their house, and by then the sun was going down.

Cross had caught on to why Allen had been pouting and depressed all day. Another one of those opportune times had approached; but, he wasn't sure how to approach Allen. He couldn't just tell Allen he had a father; Allen would completely deny Cross as his father, but he couldn't stand Allen being so depressed over it either...

Cross thought about cuddling Allen to comfort him, but Allen would be completely freaked out if he did. Cross had only had fatherly moments with Allen when either Allen was about to fall asleep or he was asleep, and he wasn't sure what Allen would think if he was openly fatherly while he was awake. But he had to do something. He might not have shown it often, but Cross did care if Allen was sick, and Allen being depressed could only lead to him becoming sick.

Finally, Cross approached Allen. '... Are you okay? I mean, you were really... Upset today...'

'I... I'm fine, Master... Why would you think I'm not okay?'

'Allen...' Cross ran his hand through his hair; the conversation was going more awkwardly than he had intended. 'You're jealous... Of all those children. It's alright for you to be jealous, but you shouldn't let it make you depressed like this...' Timcanpy took interest in the conversation, flew to Cross' shoulder, and made himself comfortable.

Allen stared blankly at his Master; here his Master was actually showing he cared after all the hardships Allen had been forced into by his Master's seemingly unloving hand.

Cross turned around to break the awkward contact with his apprentice. Then he spoke, not sure whether his apprentice would comprehend what he said or not.

'... You really shouldn't be jealous of them...'

* * *

Allen hadn't comprehended what happened next until he was alone in his room getting ready for bed. His Master had ran-knocking Tim off his shoulder- and picked him up, hugged him, and carried him to his room then left him alone. This in itself was off, out of character, for his Master in Allen's mind, but Allen had also realized that his Master had kissed him on the cheek. This thought was completely off to Allen; why would his Master kiss him after everything he had been forced through because of him? But then a weight dropped on him; Allen understood what 'You really shouldn't be jealous' meant, and without even knowing it, it made him happy.

* * *

Yay, fourth chapter is up! XD Sorry for how long it took (almost a month, if not a month! :D), but I've already started on a chapter to come (but I'll probably post a chapter or two in between; I'll post it in December, for holiday themed-ness :3 )

Reviews~ I like reading and replying :3 And Thank You again to everyone who reviews/favorites/follows! :3 Haha, and while I'm on the subject, should you ever come across a grammatical error in my writing, please tell me in a review so I can fix it :3


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